Page 83 of Pin-up Girl

Elise shook her head. “That’s not true. Cassidy could have been the one to get close to them instead of me.”

He shook his head. “It was never going to be Cassidy. Ask her next time you see her. She was given very explicit instructions on hanging back and letting you be the one to make contact.”

A nasty gleam shown in his eyes as he pulled his chair a few inches closer, all the while the back of my neck burned where Derek held the gun. No distance for him, he wasn’t taking any chances.

To take the attention off of Elise, I picked up the pen.I’ll bite, why was it Elise?

“How old were you when you lost your voice?” Justin asked, but he already knew the answer. I could see it in his eyes, he just wanted to torture me.

12

“And have you ever told Elise what happened? Why you lost your voice?”

Sweat started to bead on my brow, my heart pounded like little fists trying to break free of my chest. I never talked about it. Not even with Milo and Emmett. They knew a watered-down version of what happened, but it was their parents who told them and warned them not to make the same mistake.

Elise wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to talk about her past. She gave me the perfect out to avoid the questions I wouldn’t answer.

No.

He clapped his hands together. “Fantastic! Then I get a front row seat. This is better than I ever expected. Would you like to be the one to tell her, or should I?” The sound of his voice grated against my skin.

Elise put her hand in mine, but I couldn’t look at her. I didn’t want to talk about it. I literally didn’t think I could write the words.

“Okay, from your profuse sweating, I see this is still a rough spot for you.” Justin was getting giddy, the pitch of his voice rising with each word.

“I don’t need to know.” Elise pressed her arm against mine. To comfort me, maybe?

“I think you do. You remember how you lost your virginity, right, Elise? How Chao auctioned it off to the highest bidder?”

At that, she jerked her hand back, and moved away from me.

“How could I forget?”

“Yes, well, what about Emma? You remember how she died?”

Beside me, Elise crossed her arms over her stomach and bent forward. “You bastard! You cock sucking bastards killed her! She was a baby! Just fourteen!” Tears streamed down her face, but she made no other sounds. As if she could kill him by her glare alone, she held his gaze.

But men like him, they never felt anything. In fact, he was probably getting a sick sense of satisfaction by watching her break.

What he didn’t know was, Elise was too strong to break now.

“She was a liability. All she had to do was lay back for the man that won her virginity, but she wouldn’t. She fought the men the entire way inside the house where all the girls go. Then when she was locked in the room, she pounded on the door for over an hour, begging and screaming for someone to let her out. You know the funny thing?”

Justin switched his gaze to me. “That house was your vacation home in the mountains. Remember that winter?”

No.God no. That was the girl I tried to help? She was fucking devastated, had made herself sick from hours of crying. I wasn’t even supposed to have been there, but my dad had to pick me up last minute. He told me to go to the basement, watch a movie until he was done. Said he was going to be a while, but would come get me as soon as he could. Would take me night skiing after.

She screamed so loud, I could hear her all the way in the basement. I ran up to the second story and found the door locked. Remembered how odd it was that a key lock was on the outside of the door, something I’d never noticed before.

“Shh. Why are you crying?” I said through the door.

“I’m trapped. They’re keeping me here, and I want to leave. They’re going to hurt me,” she said between hiccupping sobs.

“My dad wouldn’t do that.” I was sure of it. He was the best fucking dad in the world. I looked around, but he wasn’t here, couldn’t hear my thoughts. He always took my video games away when I used curse words.

She stopped, then started to cry again. “I don’t know your dad, but the men that brought me here are bad people. I can’t stay here. Can you let me out?”

I knew where my dad kept all the keys for the house in his bedroom. It was only down the hall, but I shouldn’t. I’d get in trouble.

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